Heeresgeschichtliches Museum

Heeresgeschichtliches Museum
In the War History Museum, they display various items: weapons, armor, and artifacts throughout the different major wars that Austria and specifically Vienna has been involved in.
17th Century
Vienna was involved in two wars: the 30 years war and the war with the Turks. The 30 Years War lasted from 1618-1648 and was mostly fought in central Europe. It started as a conflict among religious groups, specifically the Catholics and Protestants; however as the war continued on, it really became a war to balance powers in Europe. It was mainly an attempt by the French to make sure that the Habsburgs did not get too powerful, to ensure this the French sided with the Protestant Swedes. The war ended with the leader of the Swedes, Gustavus Adolphus. In the aftermath of the war, it is hard to identify a victor, since all involved parties were greatly hurt by the war, especially economically and no one country became very powerful.
The Ottomans were interested in expanding their empire to the west and wanted to obtain Vienna for its strategic position along the Danube. In July 1683, the Turkish troops marched to the walls of Vienna and laid siege on the city for the second time, led by Kara Mustafa. However thanks to the military might of Prince Eugene of Savoy, Polish troops, and the looming cold winter, the Ottomans were kicked out of Vienna, never to return again. During the period of the second Ottoman siege, there was a lot of fear among the citizens and imperial family in Vienna. They did not know if this siege was ever going to end and had very little understanding of the Ottomans and their military power.photo: courtesy of google images
Albrecht von Wallenstein
Wallenstein was an important general of the 30 Years War. However in 1630 the authorities feared that he was becoming too powerful and they dismissed him from command. He was called back after a short while when the Swedes began to gain strength. In the end, he was suspected of treason and assassinated in 1634.
Battle of Lutzen by Peeter Snayers
The Swedish and German armies are depicted in the background and the Habsburg’s Imperial army is depicted in the foreground. Through this painting, historians can see the conditions of the 30 Years war. The terrible conditions are shown: disease, death, and cramped quarters.
Turkish army dress, weapons
In all of the items displayed in this museum, the Ottomans are depicted in a very barbaric manner. It is true however that the Ottomans used some “outdated” by effective weapons, namely bows and arrows, while the imperial army used gun powder and more advanced weapons.
World War I and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy
When the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, successor to the Habsburg throne, and his wife Sophia were assassinated in Sarajevo in 1914 by a nationalist group, the Black Hand, this ignited a series of events that eventually resulted in World War I. The Habsburg Empire placed the country of Serbia responsible for the death of Franz Ferdinand and waged war on them, however because of a web of complicated alliances it resulted in to a full fledged world war. The Austria-Hungary Empire did not do well in the trench warfare and had difficulties keeping its multinational empire cohesive. In the end, the empire began to dissolve and in November 1918, an armistice agreement was met, which resulted in the collapse of the empire.
Vehicle of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
This is the 4 cylinder, 30 horsepower car that the archduke was shot in. This was the second attempt on his life, he escaped the first one unscathed; however after being shot in Sarajevo, he eventually died, although not instantaneously. The bullet hole is still visible.
Uniform and Chaise
This is the uniform that Franz Ferdinand was shot in. The blood and bullet holes are still visible and also the incision that the doctor had to make into his uniform to remove the bullet. This is the chaise that the archduke spent the remaining moments of his life.

Leopold Museum

The Leopold Museum contains the collection of the Leopold family, which includes paintings, furniture, vases, and sketches. There are five stories of items on display from their private home. Herr Leopold made a deal with the city of Vienna that if they built him a museum then he would donate his entire art collection for the city to put on display. Herr Leopold is considered an art guru and almost everything he buys turns to gold. For instance, people used to not be big fans of Schiele however because Leopold enjoyed his art Schiele has now become one of the most famous artists in the last century.
photo: courtesy of google images
Gustav Klimt (1862-1918)
Klimt is considered to be one of the Ringstrasse artists. He was born right into the height of the Secessionist movement. Klimt was originally enrolled in the Applied Arts Academy to be a goldsmith; however, after realizing he did not have much interest in being a goldsmith he picked up painting. Klimt was very involved in the construction of the Ringstrasse buildings and leading the Secessionist movement; however a scandal ousted him from his influential position and the Jugenstil group. Klimt was asked to paint three panels in the opening hall for the University of Vienna. Klimt’s panels were refused because they looked quite controversial and they were blurry and would be hard to view on the ceilings. The refusal of the University to accept the panels was a big blow to Klimt and he would be unable to find work for some while, in this time he painted The Kiss, which not only put him back into mainstream art but elevated him to become one of the most influential artists ever. Klimt’s work can be placed into three periods: 1) Ringstrasse period 2) Art Noveau, Jugendstil period 3) Expressionism.
photo: courtesy of google images
Death and Life
Klimt created this in 1910 and thought he was finished with it, but five years later he pulled it out and decided it was not finished and started adding certain touches to it and it is now what we see today hanging in the Leopold museum. Death is portrayed as menacing, sinister, sneaky, and playful. Life is portrayed through many people. The old person is blue, similar to the color of death. The couple in the foreground seem to be mourning and have been touched by death and the man seems to be protecting his woman. The outer ends of “life” are the parts that he added in 1915. These additions helped to close the gap between life and death. Also if you look at the grooves in between life and death, you can see that they fit together. Last, but most important, is the girl, the only person with their eyes open, is the person in which the observer can be pulled into the painting.
Vienna Workshop
The Vienna Workshop is the antithesis of Jugendstil. The two most influential architects and artists that came out of the Vienna Workshop were Adolf Loos and Josef Hoffman. They disliked the Jugendstil style and all its ornamentation and pomp. The Vienna Workshop artists believed in simplicity and thought ornamentation was a crime. They believed that with the use of beautiful material, you would not need decoration. Vienna Workshop artists wanted to take applied arts and incorporate it into the fine arts. They thought that a well-designed chair could be a work of art. Loos thought that the architect should design everything in a building down to the doorknob.
photo: courtesy of google images
Egon Schiele
Schiele was one of Klimt’s greatest admirers and learned a great deal from Klimt. He was an expressionist painter and ushered in the new style of art flawlessly. According to Parsons, he showed “disregard for bourgeois proprieties” (Parsons, 244) and often painted pornographic works that society found very distasteful.photo: courtesy of google images
Dead Mother
Dead Mother is a work that Schiele produced that somewhat prophesized the fate of his wife. The painting features a dead mother carrying her child, which is what happened to Schiele. His wife died carrying his seven-month baby of the Spanish Influenza. This is a strange mysterious characteristic of Schiele’s work. He is often said to have been able to see and feel the future and would paint what he felt.photo: courtesy of google images
The Cardinal and the Nun
This is one of Schiele’s most famous pieces and marked his transition from “self-disgust of many self-portraits to shocking eroticism” (Parsons, 244). The cardinal and the nun both have knobby, weathered, peasant-like feet, which represents that even though religious people are seen to hold a certain moral standard, they are in the end still people and still have desires and needs. The face of the cardinal looks as if he is completely consumed by the beauty of the nun and the face of the nun looks as if she has just been caught. This piece was very ground-breaking for Schiele’s time.

Belvedere

The Belvedere was the Baroque palace of Prince Eugene of Savoy, defeater of the Turks and now is a museum displaying the art collection of the Habsburgs, especially Maria Theresia.
Early 17th Century Art
During the 17th century, the rise of Martin Luther and Protestantism greatly impacted art. Since, there is less of a need for art, Protestant artists need new outlets to make money, before they would pain alters, frescoes, and portraits of the holy family. Because of this, a hierarchy of painting emerges. The most important paintings are historical of biblical or ancient Roman scenes, second there are genre paintings of common life, third are portraits, last there are landscapes and still life paintings. Protestant artists turn to painting portraits in order to make money.
The Imperial Count Mortiz Christian Fries and his Family 1805
In this painting the family is almost portrayed like the holy family, with Mary, Jesus, and Joseph. This style of painting also brings in the viewer through the woman; she is staring out at the observer, making the painting more personable. In this period, only the very rich could afford to have their portraits done.photo: courtesy of google images
Rocky Landscape in the Elbsandsteinegebirge 1822
Landscape paintings become popular in the Renaissance and there popularity have continued to the modern day. This painting by Casper David Friederich captures the mystery of nature. This painting still has religious connotations and signifies are need to get back to God through nature. Furthermore in this period, there is a reversion back to Catholicism and the need to return to the heyday of the Holy Roman Empire. During this time, the English gardens are also preferred to the manicured look of the French gardens. This painting signifies societies movement from reason and French imperialism to passion. Friederich’s works are characterized by his extreme horizon lines; they are either very high or very low, in this particular painting they are very low.photo: courtesy of google images
Reading the Will 1839
The significance of this painting by Danhauser is that it allows us and historians to view common life scenes in the past. Since there were no photographs and we cannot go back in time to observe life in the past, we must turn to art and paintings to conjure of hypotheses of common life dealings. Through pieces like these, we can observe the popular furniture styles and dress. We can also determine daily life dealings: for instance what they did during leisure time, if they had to get water from a well.photo: courtesy of google images
Rudolf von Arthaber with his Children Rudolf, Emilie, Gustav 1837
This painting fits into the Biedermeier period (1815-1848), where there is a retreat to idyllic family life. It is the movement of the middle class. In this painting, the family is obviously emphasized. The father is acting very paternal and fully involved in his three children; however there is an obvious missing piece, the mother. In the Biedermeier period, there is a change in the role of women. Before, women were portrayed in a very lustful way, but now women are portrayed in a much more civilized way and we can see that this family is mourning the missing link in their family because of her intellect through the melancholy feeling of the painting.
Baroque Style
This is the room in the Belvedere where the Austrian state contract was signed in 1955. The style of this room is baroque. Especially in the ceiling, one can see many of the characteristics of the Baroque style. The frescos on the ceiling attempt to fool the eye. The viewer cannot tell how high the ceiling is and it is difficult to tell when sculpture ends and painting begins the visual transition between the two is flawless.
photo: courtesy of google images
The Wounded Man 1866
This painting by Gustave Courbet is an example of art’s transition into impressionism. The techniques used are much more exaggerated. In impressionist art, the artists try and create an illusion between two-dimensional and three-dimensional foregrounds and backgrounds. There is also an exaggeration of brush strokes to make them completely visible to the viewer; however it is not as dramatic here because this cannot be considered an impressionist piece, just one that is at the cusp of the transition into impressionist art. The 19th century also ushers in the people’s desire to sit and contemplate art, thus art pieces become more thought provoking and allow for more interpretation.photo: courtesy of google images
Fishermen on the Seine at Poissy 1882
This piece is the epitome of impressionist art. The father of impressionist art, Monet, painted it. In impressionist art, the paint itself becomes important not only the figures drawn. Impressionist art favors the exaggeration of brush strokes to create blurriness when one is near the piece and clearness when one is far from the piece. This piece is just very relaxing and I can picture someone placing this in their living room by the fireplace so that they could just sit down and enjoy its serenity.
photo: courtesy of google images
The Kiss
This is the main attraction of the Belvedere and maybe all art in Vienna. It is paralleled to the Mona Lisa in its fame and popularity. Klimt did this piece in the middle period of his three art phases and very obviously fits into the Art Noveau and Secessionist style, especially evident in all the gold elements. Here it is obvious that there is a transition from three to two-dimensional art because this piece is done mostly in two dimensions. Klimt painted The Kiss after his university scandal and needed a piece to come out of the hole of disapproval that society had placed on him. Klimt uses very small detailed patterns to separate the man from the women. The women is put together using many tiny little circles of different sizes and the man is put together using many tiny little blocks of different sizes. This painting really put Klimt on track as one of the most influential artists of all time.

Ringstrasse

History
The end of the Biedermeier age marks the beginning of a new era, with the crowing of Franz Josef, the era of the Ringstrasse. Emperor Franz Josef decided to tear down the medieval city walls and expand the limits of Vienna. This allowed for the building of many structures that now define Vienna. The Ringstrasse period is not only defined by the creation of new Viennese monuments, such as: the Opera House, Parliament, or the University of Vienna; however it is the rise of the upper-middle class in Vienna. These are the newly rich and have made their new fortune through the rise in industry in Vienna. They are often minorities, support liberal political parties, and believe in capitalism through laissez-faire economics. The Ringstrasse barons are known for being insecure because of their newly rich status and try and go above and beyond to prove their newly attained status, thus they try and imitate the aristocratic style and place this same influence on to the new architecture of the Ringstrasse and also into society.

Jugendstil
Jugenstil or Art Noveau is the style that defines the age of the Ringstrasse. This styles most famous advocator in Vienna was Otto Wagner. He was born right into the Ringstrasse period in 1842 and believed that architectural style should mirror its own period. He grew tired of neo-renditions of old styles such as: Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical. He believed that something not practical cannot be beautiful and became well liked not just for his aesthetically pleasing architecture but his innovations and practicality. He was involved in building the Danube Canal that has saved Vienna from many floods that other cities along the Danube have not been so fortunate to get away from. Jugenstil is characterized by its steel, marble, and Mallorca tile. The most notable example in Vienna would be in Karlsplatz where there is a Otto Wagner museum in one of his old Jugendstil Stadtbahn stations. Most of the buildings are white with some green and gilded ornamentations and a specific style of font.

Sites
The Votiv Church was done in the neo-Gothic style to model that of the Stephansdom. Franz Josef built the church as a thanks to the higher power for a surviving an assassination attempt. Parliament was built in neo-Classical style, mirroring Greek society, the world’s first democracy. The Rathaus is done in the neo-Gothic style to symbolize “the free burgher cities of the Flanders in the Middle Ages” (Parsons, 208). The Kunsthistorisches and Naturhistorisches Museums are done in the Renaissance style to represent the revival of arts and sciences. The neue-Hofburg is done in the neo-Baroque style to signify the pomp and absolutist ethos of the empire and rulers of the Habsburgs during the time. The University of Wien was built in the Renaissance style to mirror the rebirth of learning and thought. The Staatoper was built in the Venetian Renaissance style to represent the birthplace of opera and dedication to the arts. Some famous Ringstrasse architect include: “Gottfried Semper, Karl Hasenauer, Theophil von Hansen, Heinrich Ferstel, Friedrich Schmidt, Von Siccardsburg, Van der Null” (Parsons, 208). This movement is associated with the Secesseion and the Secessionist artists are responsible for the construction of the buildings around the Ringstrasse between 1858-1900. However, Adolf Loos and his friends were anti-Secessionist and criticized the Secession artists, architects, and buildings to be decorative and busy. He believed in simplicity and stated that ornamentation should be considered a crime. He also thinks that if one uses beautiful material to build then there would be no use for decoration.

R-Tram
The R-Tram is a yellow tram that takes you around the Ringstrasse to get a view of the most significant and recognizable buildings in Vienna. We got on near our school and started the tour with the bilateral buildings of the Kunsthistorisches and Naturhistorisches Museums and that is where we also ended. I noticed that the person working the tram was very friendly and helpful, something refreshing because since I have been here I have found the Viennese to be pretty unfriendly. He gave us each our own headsets that we could plug into the audio guide, which came in many languages. The technology was done really well. The audio guide was in sync with what we were seeing and also there was a screen where they would display the building the audio guide was talking about so we knew exactly if we were looking at the correct thing. Some noted sites included: Parliament, People’s Park, Burg Theater (Renaissance), Rathaus (neo-Gothic), University of Vienna, Votiv Church (neo-Gothic), Danube Canal, Ring Tower, OPEC headquarters, Schwarzenberg Platz, Hotel Imperial, Charles Church (Baroque), and the Staatoper. I thought the tram tour would be a good way for tourists to get a feel for the city and its architectural style; however, it is quite expensive and I do not know that someone would want to ride it more than once. Furthermore, there are a lot more aesthetically pleasing and “Viennese” styled buildings inside the Ringstrasse that the tour does not cover.

Historisches Museum der Stadt Wien

The Historisches Museum der Stadt Wien takes you through the history of Vienna starting from the pre-historic era up to the modern day. The museum is mainly full of art and some artifacts. It displays the art and society of Vienna through different time periods so you can see Vienna’s transition to its current culture.
1. Roman Empire: Settlements in Vienna have dated back to 40,000 B.C. However, the first notable period of Viennese history starts with the Roman Empire, when Vienna was known as Vindobona. Vindobona was an important part of the Roman Empire because it was a port city along the Danube. It was situated in what is now the first district of Vienna and in the Hofburg, you can see some of the ruins from this period.
2. Medieval Vienna 1100-1400: Vienna was relatively small and relied on wine-making during this time for survival; however, it became more of a force to be reckoned with when the Babenbergs chose to reside in Vienna and began the construction of St. Stephens church, now one of the most visited sites in Vienna. Vienna gained even more importance when the Habsburgs took up rule of Austria in the late 1200s, this attracted many to move into the city. The arrival of new residents continued to increase, resulting in the expansion of Vienna and the creation of suburbs.
3. 16th century: Vienna in the 16th century is associated with a lot of instability, including the dissolution of Hungarian rule and war with the Ottomans. Vienna fell to the Turks for 3 weeks and afterwards fear struck the Viennese and Habsburgs, thus causing them to change Vienna into a more fortified city. This period is also accompanied by the spread of Protestantism through the rise of Martin Luther. The Habsburg a strictly Catholic ruling family started to offer more tolerance and opening up to the idea of Protestantism, but not for long.
4. 17th century: Vienna in the 17th century is characterized by the Counter-Reformation. The tolerance towards Protestants had ended and the Habsburgs Catholicized all of Vienna, making it arguably more Catholic than before. In order to show the prestige and superiority of Catholics, Vienna entered the Baroque art period. The Baroque style is associated with opulence, grandeur, and lavishness. It features a lot of gilded elements, rich colors, and amazing frescoes. Notable Baroque structures commissioned in this time include: Karlskirche, upper and lower Belvedere.
5. 18th century: The 18th century is the period of city growth and expansion and social reform. Vienna had multiplied in size and many new suburbs had sprung up around outside the town center. There was a change in the structure of society from feudalism to bourgeois. This transformation was caused by the social reforms that characterize this period: abolition of torture, death penalty, mandatory primary education, increased religious tolerance, and opening of public parks and hospitals.
6. Biedermeier Period: Biedermeier was a character that was featured in a Munich periodical, he was known to be a family man of “modest ambitions and sober pleasures” (Parsons, 195). This period started with the Congress of Vienna in 1815 and ends with the Revolution of 1848, which ushers in the Ringstrasse era. The Biedermeier period is brought about by the Enlightenment period, in which the middle class or bourgeoisie becomes aware of its political disempowerment. Biedermeier is most closely associated with architecture, interior décor, and art of the middle class. This oppression and censorship was brought about by Ferdinand who was determined to thwart democratic and liberal ideas from emerging. The Biedermeier period is the trend of the middle class turning inward toward family, private life, and domesticity. Houses were small, modest, and painted in Schonbrunn gold. The interior of these houses were adorned with porcelain collections and paintings of landscapes or life in the countryside. A characteristic of the Biedermeier period is clutter and gemutlichkeit, or coziness with a claustrophobic connotation. It was a solely bourgeois movement.
7. 1848 Revolution: The continually repressed middle and lower classes of Vienna rose up against the government that resulted in the Revolution of 1848. The revolution was led mainly by student groups, who demanded freedom of speech. The guards were only marginally successful in containing the violence because Emperor Ferdinand had to move to Innsbruck for safety. In the end, however, the Imperial Troops prevailed and surrounded Vienna, resulting in the executions of many revolters. Emperor Ferdinand’s unpopularity led him to abdicate in favor of his nephew Franz Josef at the end of 1848.
8. Age of Franz Josef: Franz Josef rule from 1848-1916 and ushered in an era of transformation for Vienna. With Franz Josef came the knocking down of the city walls leading to the Era of the Ringstrasse and the rise of an upper middle class. These people made their money through the rise of industry in Austria and were often bankers or factory owners. The rise of industry resulted in the fall of the former middle class (Biedermeier), they became very resentful of the Ringstrasse barons, who were mainly immigrants or Jews, and wanted to bring back the “real Austria,” free of immigrants.

A Visit to the UN

A Visit to the UN

Background on the UN
The UN was created in 1945 as a result of World War II, originally it had 51 member countries and now there are 192 member countries. The point of the creation of the UN was to avoid another world war. After two world wars in 30 years, the international community decided it was time to put together an agent in order to allow for diplomatic negotiations instead of violence. The UN has five official languages: Spanish, Russian, French, English, Chinese and Arabic; and the two main languages are French and English. UN interpreters have to speak a minimum of three or four languages fluency, which must include either English or French. English and French are used as the main languages for interpretation, if a mistake is made through either English or French than the other interpreters for the three remaining languages will also make a mistake in their interpretations. Interpreters are only allowed to work 30 minutes at a time and up to 3 hours a day, since it is such a high stress job. The headquarters of the UN is in New York and there are three additional locations in: Vienna, Geneva, and Nairobi. Each location focuses on a different diplomatic arena. New York focuses on politics. Geneva focuses on human rights. Vienna focuses on security with an emphasis in nuclear energy. Lastly, Nairobi focuses on the environment. The Vienna UN contains many different agencies and divisions in order to insure safety in the international community, such as: UNOID (United Nations Office on Industrial Development), UNOOSA (United Nations Office on Outer-space Affairs), UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes), and IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency).

IAEA
The IAEA was created as a response to the Atoms for Peace initiative. The main goal of the IAEA is all for the safe and secure use of nuclear technology. The need for the IAEA arose from the Manhattan Project, which resulted in the explosion of two atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II. The existence of nuclear weapons led to the Cold War, in which the United States and the Soviet Union had a nuclear arms race, resulting in the need for an international diplomatic agency to ensure the safe and secure use of nuclear technology. The job of the IAEA is to make sure that uranium ore that is mined is not made to materials that can be used for weapons. However, the IAEA is not involved in disarmament, especially nuclear weapons. It relies on budgetary and extra-budgetary contributions to distribute its services. Budgetary contributions are based on member states payments based on the size of their economy. Extra-budgetary contributions are made by member states to fund projects that they may be interested in. The IAEA’s main role is to monitor fissile material. Member states are split into two categories: NWs (nuclear weapon states) are states that have exploded a nuclear device befor January 1967 and includes: USA, Russia, UK, France, and China. These countries are not subject to IAEA inspections. The second category is the NNWs (non nuclear weapon states) are states that have pledged not to develop or acquire nuclear weapons and must allow IAEA inspections. The incentive for NNW states to join the IAEA is that members of the IAEA will help the country to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. The mission of the IAEA can be summed up in 3 pillars: 1) safeguards and verification 2) safety and security 3) science and technology. The first pillar focuses on international accounting to ensure that fissile material is only used for peaceful purposes. The second pillar focuses on safe use of nuclear technology. The third pillar focuses on help and advice with peaceful applications of nuclear technology.

UNODC
The UNODC’s focus is to help member states deal with issues of crime, drugs, and terrorism; unlike the IAEA, the UNODC is a part of the UN. At any one time the UNODC works on 250 projects and works with an annual budget of 100 million US dollars. The UNODC is based on 3 conventions. First, drugs are bad. The use and production of drugs must be controlled and necessary measures must be taken to ensure this. Second, substances should only be used under prescription according to their recognized medical use or for medical research. Third, the drug abuse is the illicit use of drugs, which is based on an assessment of health risks and not on moral judgment. The UNODC also oversees the INCB (International Narcotics Control Board). The INCB is a semi-judicial function to monitor compliance to being a member state of the UNODC. The INCB provides legal and technical assistance to member states. For instance, they help survey the amount of poppy and coca production and help with socioeconomic situations. They also provide and improve the capacities of member state governments to stop the trafficking of drugs. The main point is to reduce the supply and demand of drugs.

Questions:
1. The IAEA preaches nuclear disarmament, do you plan on enforcing this for all nations? This was answered. The IAEA does not involve itself with disarmament of nations especially of nuclear weapons, its job is to make sure enriched uranium is not used to make weapons.
2. What is the main goal of the UNODC? This was answered. The main goal of the UNODC is to help member states deal with issues of crime, drugs, terrorist, and trafficking.
3. What diplomatic methods do you plan on using to stop drug trafficking? This was not really discussed. Our lecture was focused on early prevention methods of drug use through installing an educational program in schools.
4. What drugs are most commonly trafficked and which create the highest revenue? This was also not really discussed; however, I did find a poster that mapped out the proportion of use of each substance: cannabis, cocaine, methamphetamines, and opiates in each region of the world. The percentages differ from region to region. The most commonly used drug in the North American region is cannabis.
5. How does the IAEA feel about nuclear energy? This was answered. The IAEA supports the use of nuclear energy for its efficiency; however, they believe that not all nations have the resources and capacity to instill this type of technology.
6. Is the UN looking for more efficient or alternative ways to dispose of nuclear waste? This was not discussed. The lecture was more focused on the NPT and the prevention of proliferation of nuclear weapons and establishing knowledge for the good uses of nuclear technology.

Mauthausen Concentration Camp

Background
Mauthausen is a city a couple hours outside of Vienna. It is the site of one of the Nazi’s several concentration camps across central and eastern Europe. The building started in 1938 and lasted until 1941. Initially, local carpenters built the first structures on Mauthausen, two barracks and a barbed wire fence. From then on out, the construction of the camp was done by the prisoners. Its operation lasted from 1938 until 1945, when the camp was liberated. Mauthausen had a death rate of about 50%. Estimates say around 300,000 people worked at there and around 150,000 died there. Either they were murdered, starved to death, or worked to death. The history of Mauthausen can be divided into 4 periods. The first period, 1938-1941, was the building of the camp. The second period started in 1941-1942, was quarry work done by the prisoners. The third period started in 1943, was work in factories for weapons and ammunition. The fourth period started in 1944 when the Nazis decided to close all death camps and the prisoners from the death camps were transported to Mauthausen and other concentration camps across Europe.
The point of the concentration camps was to kill people by hard labor. Once prisoners entered the camp they were told by the guards that the gate they entered from was the way in and the chimney of the crematorium was their way out. In early years the biggest group of prisoners were the political prisoners; however, the demographics were varied and included: gypsies, criminals, homosexuals, Jews, and Soviet POWs. Originally, Mauthausen was opened for men; however, with the closing of the extermination camps in eastern Europe, women started to flood in.
Arrival at Mauthausen
First the prisoners arrived in the railway station for Mauthausen. The carts that they rode in were usually used for cattle transport. After arrival, the prisoners would have to march up the hill for about 6 kilometers to reach the camp. They would be asked to line up facing the “wailing wall” and would be asked to stand there for hours or days. Often the SS would beat them or release the dogs on the prisoners. Sometimes during the cold winter months they would spray cold water onto the prisoners. The SS had one goal and that was to make the prisoners’ lives hell by breaking them in a mental way. After the wailing wall, the prisoners would be taken to the shower. Before showering they would be shaven with blunt razor blades that would leave open sores and the prisoners would be bleeding during their shower. Then the prisoners would line up at roll call, get their uniforms, and move into quarantine. In quarantine, the prisoners would be split up into different labor tasks. The strong would be asked to work in the quarries. After the quarantine, the prisoners would be moved into their barracks.
Life at Mauthausen
A typical day at Mauthausen started at 445 AM in the summer and 515AM in the winter. The prisoners would have 30 minutes to wake up, make their bed, wash themselves, dress, and live up for roll call. Breakfast and dinner were eaten at roll call and would consist of around 600-1000 calories and lunch was eaten at the job site, most likely at the quarry. The prisoners would work 11-12 hrs a day and 6 days a week. On Sunday, their “day off” they were required to gymnastics. The SS would give them very difficult physical challenges in order to separate the strong from the weak. Many times the prisoners would die during their gymnastics training. There were three official punishments at Mauthausen. There was the bunker or the camp prison, where misbehaving prisoners were sent to be tortured. The second form of punishment was standing on the roll call ground for extended periods of time often being beaten, mauled by dogs, or sprayed with cold water. The last official punishment was being beat by a whip or wooden stick 25 times. The prisoner would have to count each whipping until 25. If they counted incorrectly, the beatings would start from zero. Many times the prisoners were whipped so hard their kidneys would start to bleed.
Gas Chambers
Executions of most prisoners at Mauthausen were done through the gas chamber. The gas used to kill the prisoners was Cyclone B. This gas removes the oxygen from blood and takes about 20-30 minutes to kill the prisoners. The gas chamber would require 4-5 hours to clean after each round of gassing. Around 100 prisoners could be crammed into the gas chamber at once to be gassed. The prisoners were always lied to and were told that they were going to take a shower. The gas chamber at Mauthausen was done being built in 1942 and was used from then until the camp’s liberation in 1945. In this time, 5,000 prisoners died because of the gas chamber. Before the prisoners were sent into the chamber, the ones with gold teeth were marked so that they could be easily identified once they died. The SS would then pick out the marked prisoners and remove their gold teeth from their mouths. They obtained about 50 pounds of gold teeth.